Breaking Point (Drew Ashley 1) (14 page)

We got off the Tube at London Bridge, and Harvey whistled
London Bridge is falling down,
all the way to the ticket booths.

I'd never had the London Bridge experience. It was like a Halloween show. It was scarier than I thought it'd be. After an hour in the musty darkness, being given the experience of what havoc the Vikings and Romans used to wreak there, and also having the fire of London re-enacted, I'd had enough. But that was when one of the live characters decided to chase me. I fled screaming as the hooded figure brandished his sword.

Later when we eventually got out, Harvey had it all on video on his mobile phone. You couldn't really see anything because it'd been so dark inside, but you could hear my frantic screaming.

"It's not funny," I snapped, as he laughed.

He patted my shoulder. "It wasn't real, Drew."

"I know, I just got spooked." I wasn't afraid of the dark, but that experience had made me feel like I was trapped in a really bad vision.

"It's time to visit the tombs," Harvey said, tucking his phone back into his pocket.

"I'll wait for you out here." There was no way I was going down to the tombs. Just no way.

"You scared?"

"No!"

"Don't worry; I'll be right beside you all the way." Harvey took my hand, and the contact singed my fingers.

I wanted to protest as he marched me towards the tombs, but there were too many people around, including lots of kids who didn't seem at all fazed. I clamped my mouth shut and let Harvey lead me in.

After the London Tombs, we made our way to the London Dungeons. It was more of the same spooky stuff. By the time we emerged, it was almost half one. I stood on the pavement outside the exit blinking, the glare of the sun hurting my eyes.

"Where to now?" Harvey asked.

"Two more stops," I told him wearily. "A cruise on the Thames, and then Trafalgar Square." The idea was to have lunch at Trafalgar Square, but we were running late. It'd be dinner time before we got there.

"Sounds good," Harvey said. "I'm just going to check out the gift shop."

I waited outside the gift shop for him, considering telling him that we should call it a day. I prepared an excuse about feeling tired, but I felt guilty when he came out with a huge grin on his handsome face and postcards for his family in America. He was obviously enjoying himself.

***

"This is rather romantic. Don't you think?" Harvey asked me, as the ferry sailed along the Thames.

"I guess you could say that."

"You don't agree?"

I turned from leaning against the rail looking at the water, to look at Harvey. There was a teasing glint in his eyes. Harvey looked out at the river, the wind tugging at his t-shirt and tousling his charcoal hair.

"You were reluctant to take me sightseeing, weren't you?"

"A little," I admitted. I hadn't realised I'd made it obvious.

"Why?"

Like I could tell him that he threw me off and made me dizzy. I didn't think so. "Well, you're a manager at News24—"

"I'm not your direct manager."

"I know." I caught my hair in a bobble and tied it back, to stop it from blowing in my face.

Harvey's eyebrows inched up, like he was waiting for me to elaborate. I didn't. There was no reasonable explanation.

"And you call yourself a Christian. Aren't you supposed to be charitable and do good things?"

I rolled my eyes. "Don't stoop so low, Harvey."

Harvey put a hand to my chest, just beneath my neck. It wasn't invasive, but I was surprised nonetheless. He removed his hand as quickly as he'd placed it there. "Just as I suspected. No heartbeat."

"Does the fact that I don't want to get overfamiliar with a manager at my workplace mean I don't have a heart."

"Of course not," Harvey said breezily. He slipped his sunglasses on, concealing his eyes. "I assure you, I have no desire whatsoever to extend our relationship beyond the mere acquaintance that it currently is. I trust that we're both mature enough to maintain a professional distance."

I smiled sweetly, although I felt bad because it looked like I'd hurt him. But it was the only way to stay safe. "I trust so, too."

Needless to say, dinner at Trafalgar Square was pretty awkward.

***

Harvey showed up on Tuesday morning in a sleek BMW X6. He didn't ring my doorbell. He just sent me a text saying he was here. I tapped on his window when I got outside.

He rolled it down. "What's up?"

"The Tube is part of the experience."

He shrugged. "Okay. Is it safe to leave my car here?"

My mum's neighbourhood was pretty safe, but I went to get the garage keys just in case.

We took a taxi to Euston.

"So, what's on the agenda today?" Harvey asked when we were on the Tube.

"Buckingham Palace, Kensington Palace, Westminster Abbey, and the Houses of Parliament," I said removing a hair bobble from my bag. I was sweating already. I needed to get my hair off my neck. "And Number Ten Downing Street if we have time."

Harvey just nodded.

We got to Buckingham Palace just as the change of guard was starting. It really was all rather grand.

I stole a look at Harvey. He was a little quiet today. I wondered if not speaking was his way of maintaining a professional distance.

"The British have very rich culture," he told me as we left for Kensington Palace after the change of guard. "We don't have anything like this in America."

"Most British people probably don't know that we have anything like this. I've never seen it until today. I've never been to a lot of the places I'm taking you this week."

Harvey looked surprised.

"When you live in a city, you don't really see it the way other people see it. London is just a home to me, not a novelty, although I do love it."

"Hmm," was all he said in response. After that, he went back into professional mode and didn't speak to me all the way to Kensington Palace, or while we had our tour. He broke his silence when we got to Westminster Abbey. "This place is magnificent."

"It is." I couldn't believe I was standing in the place where Prince William and Kate Middleton got married; the place where so many monarchs had tied the knot. I walked down the aisle regally, behind the other tourists, trying to channel some royalty.

Harvey's laughter echoed all around the hall, causing a few heads to turn. He stopped laughing immediately.

The guide was telling us something about William the Conqueror's coronation in 1066. There were a few 'ahhs' as he showed us the coronation chair.

The High Altar was the highlight for me. It was beautiful. I started getting choked up as I stared at the intricate craftwork of the golden candlesticks, the mosaic of the Last Supper, and the marble pavement.

I didn't know Harvey had noticed until he placed an arm around my waist and drew me to his side. "Is the romance of this place getting to you?"

His breath was hot on my ear. I wriggled out of his grasp, blinking away the silly tears.

I'd regained my composure by the end of the tour. I didn't know why I'd gotten all emotional in the first place. I needed to get a grip.

Harvey stopped to study a list of the abbey service times on our way out. "My mom would love this place," he said. "She's very religious."

I wished my mum was religious.

"She's coming over next week and she's going to be on my case about church again. She's always telling me I need to get saved."

"You do."

Harvey tossed me a derisive look. "Religion is just another kind of business. Preachers use it to make money."

"Not all preachers," I corrected him. "In fact it's mainly American preachers that do that."

"You gonna make this about race?"

I laughed.

"So your pastor doesn't take offerings?" Harvey asked.

"It's nothing to do with offerings, Harvey. It's about forgiveness for our sins."

Harvey gave me a weird look. "Don't get all preachy on me."

He walked away toward the Abbey Museum. I followed slowly, wishing I knew what to say to convince him. But I knew that sometimes, nothing you said would be enough. Jazz and Destiny had tried to answer all my questions for two years, and it'd all been to no avail. God Himself had to draw a person.

***

"Kale had his job interview today," I told Jazz and Destiny that evening as I texted him to find out how it went. They'd come over for dinner, although I suspected they just wanted to know how sightseeing with Harvey was going.

"Oh yeah, did you manage to find a nice outfit for him?" Destiny asked.

I nodded and showed her a picture on my phone that I'd taken of Kale in the navy suit.

She nodded her approval. "Nice."

I showed Jazz. She nodded too.

"So are you really going to pass up Harvey for Kale?" Destiny asked, removing dishes from a cupboard. My mum was out at a function with her chief exec so Destiny was cooking.

"I'd pass up Harvey for Kale," Jazz said. Then she clamped her mouth shut, as if she hadn't meant to say it.

My phone rang so I didn't get a chance to decipher the look that crossed her face. "Hi Kale, how did it go?"

"I got the job," he said casually.

His tone was so impassive that I was sure I hadn't heard right. "What did you say?"

"I got the job."

"Didn't you only just have the interview like an hour ago?"

"Yes. They interviewed me last, and they told me not to leave. So I waited outside the room for ten minutes then they called me in and said the job was mine."

"You live a charmed life, Kale."

"I'm thinking it might be the suit. I saw a few of the other candidates and their suits had nothing on mine."

"You see? You owe me dinner."

Destiny shook her head. Was there something wrong with telling a guy he owed you dinner when he so obviously did? Was I breaking some unwritten code of Christian relationships? I looked at Jazz for her opinion and she just chuckled.

"I do," Kale said.

"How's Friday?" I asked.

Destiny's head was shaking again.

Kale laughed softly. "You're not at all coy are you, Drew? It's a breath of fresh air. I'm going home this weekend so it'll have to be next week."

"Okay."

Destiny was still glaring when I got off the phone. "What?" I asked her.

"Nothing, I just think you might scare off a good man with your attitude."

"Kale isn't intimidated by me. And can you stop worrying about me when you haven't had a date in at least two years?"

"Anyway," Jazz interrupted, waving a hand. "How's sightseeing been going?"

I rolled my eyes, knowing that was the real reason they were here. "Fine. Nothing juicy to report."

"Buckingham Palace only opens for visitors in August and September, but you can take him to see the changing of the guard and the Guards Museum," Destiny suggested. "Americans love all that kind of stuff. They think we're really posh. And you've got to take him on the London Eye."

"Well, since you're bursting with ideas about where to go, why don't you take over from me?" I asked her.

"Yeah, you liked the look of him, anyway, didn't you?" Jazz asked her.

Destiny blushed all the way to her hairline.

"And he did say you were beautiful," Jazz said.

"He said we both were." Destiny opened the oven and removed a tray of three baked from frozen pies. "Drew will kill me if I get with Harvey, so I'll look for someone else. Maybe I'll go to Atlanta and hunt down one of his cousins or something."

"Harvey is just a handsome face that has distracted me a few times," I said. "I'll admit that. But I'm seriously not interested in him, so save yourself the cost of a flight to Atlanta."

Destiny and Jazz exchanged a look that said they didn't believe me. But, it was the truth. I liked Kale.

Chapter 9

Jazz stayed the night, which wasn't good because all she wanted to talk about was Harvey.

"Where are you taking him tomorrow?" she asked me, opening her bag and pulling out her PJs.

"Well I saw cheap flights to Paris…" I said hesitantly.

Jazz looked at me like I'd lost my mind. "He wants a welcome to London, not the whole of Europe."

"Okay, I'll think of something else." I'd known it was a silly idea. All I'd needed was someone to confirm that. Although I did love Paris. And it was only a half-hour flight.

"Paris is nice, but it's just a bit much," Jazz said as she changed her clothes. "Unless you take some else with you."

Jazz was not exactly the queen of tact. I rolled my eyes. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I'm not doing anything tomorrow anyway."

"Consider your ticket booked," I told her, jumping onto my laptop and praying that I'd still be able to find a flight.